How Dreadnought Tiles Made Significant Savings to Their Energy Usage With BEAS
Dreadnought Tiles, a family business founded in 1805, reduced its energy usage and costs through the Business Energy Advice Service (BEAS). The free assessment revealed key areas for improvement, including better insulation and heat recovery, leading to potential annual savings of 1,426,000 kWh and over £101,000.
Published: 03 April 2025
Company Overview
Dreadnought Tiles is a family business founded in 1805 and has been operating continuously on the same site for over two hundred years.
They work globally and have supplied products for projects in New Zealand, Australia, the USA, South Africa, and Europe. The Company supplies products for the housing and civil markets and is a key supplier for restoration projects such as churches, schools, hospitals, and civic buildings.
Dreadnought Tiles specialises in manufacturing clay roof tiles, utilising kilns and dryers that reach peak temperatures of 1130°C. As an energy-intensive business within the construction industry, they faced significant challenges navigating the recent energy crisis.
They signed up to the Business Energy Advice Service (BEAS) to gain deeper insights into their energy consumption and learn how to reduce operation costs.
Energy Assessment Findings
BEAS conducted the free assessment and worked with the Dreadnought Tiles management team to develop an understanding of their energy consumption.
Key findings included:
- Lack of Energy Use Awareness: Dreadnought was aware of the macro energy consumption on the site but was unaware of their energy consumption at a micro level such as motors, kilns, and dryers.
- High Gas Usage: The site operates multiple kilns and dryers that consume substantial amounts of gas. By improving their insulation, significant energy savings can be achieved through minimising heat loss.
- Heat Generation and Recovery: The operation generates a high level of heat, but only a small portion is currently reused in other processes. Expanding this area has the potential to create significant reductions in costs by reusing energy.
And the assessment is free, it is totally non-invasive in terms of people coming onto your premises on your processes. And indeed, it is not just linked to manufacturers, it is SMEs within the region.
Implementation and Solutions:
- Installation of M&T (Monitoring and Targeting) systems: M&T systems continuously monitor energy usage, enabling Dreadnought Tiles to identify areas of energy waste and take corrective action.
- Replacing the roofs of brick kilns: By reducing the amount of energy required to maintain high temperatures, Dreadnought Tiles can lower their overall production costs.
As a result of the BEAS recommendations, Dreadnought Tiles has begun to make savings, with the ultimate objective of annual energy savings of 1,426,000 kWh and a reduced annual carbon footprint of 267 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. These efforts would result in annual savings of over £101,000 for the business.
As an SME we need support, both in terms of financial assistance for the big investments we must make and in establishing a viable road map to significantly cut our energy consumption and emissions.
The BEAS delivery partner's experience and connections in this world has been valuable and gives us the confidence that this journey is achievable.
Find out more about BEAS
BEAS was launched to support small-to-medium enterprises in the West Midlands, to learn more about eligibility and how BEAS can support your business, check out our information page here or register today!
Register now